Business Unusual Facilitating United Nations Reform Through Partnership

The United Nations is currently undergoing the most significant transformation since its founding in San Francisco in 1945, as it aims to become a more effective and accountable institution. The end of the Cold War and the ongoing process of globalization have fundamentally transformed the environment within which the world body operates. One component of this process has been the progressive opening of the Organization to non-governmental actors, including civil society and business. Partnerships with business and civil society are seen as vital to getting the job done. This report identifies four functions for partnerships: advocacy, developing norms and standards, sharing and coordinating resources and expertise and harnessing markets for development. Partnerships have allowed the United Nations to become increasingly creative and sophisticated in its attempts to leverage the skills and resources of business and civil society toward the goals of the organisation. They have become a catalyst for reform and institutional innovation across the entire United Nations system, but much remains to be done before the process of structural and cultural transformation is complete.Witte, Jan Martin is the author of 'Business Unusual Facilitating United Nations Reform Through Partnership', published 2005 under ISBN 9789211009804 and ISBN 9211009804.